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unsolved

For over a century the mysterious disappearance of David Lang has left researchers perplexed. The events that transpired are more comparable to a Twilight Zone episode than a missing persons case. Yet oftentimes the truth is stranger than fiction. After all, similar occurrences continue to happen to this day. Hundreds of eerily parallel cases are described in the Missing 411 book series. Perhaps the best way to determine what is currently happening is to take a look further back in time.

During the afternoon hours of September 23, 1880, a farmer by the name of David Lang and his wife Emma exited their Tennessee home. Playing outside were the couple’s two children: eight-year-old George and eleven year-old Sarah. They watched while Mr. Lang crossed the field and approached his animal stables. At this moment a horse and buggy traveling down the road became visible. Occupying the carriage was Judge August Peck, a family friend, and his brother-in-law. When the youngsters saw who had arrived they immediately stopped playing and eagerly ran towards the vehicle. Judge Peck was known for bringing gifts whenever he came to visit.

David Lang was a Tennessee farmer who vanished into thin air.

Although these guests were unexpected, the couple was delighted to see them. Mr. Lang waved as he turned around and walked back towards the house. Suddenly something unbelievable happened mid-step: the man completely vanished into thin air. One moment he was there and the next he simply ceased to exist. His utterly shocked wife screamed in horror. She, her children and friends all witnessed this bizarre disappearance.

Judge August Peck was a well-respected member of the community.

Hastily the three adults sprinted to the area where Mr. Lang had been last seen.Despite painstakingly scouring every square inch of ground, nothing turned up. Emma Lang had now become incredibly distraught and was brought inside in attempts to calm her down. An emergency siren rang and alerted local neighbors who quickly formed a search party. Concerned lantern-equipped citizens worked feverishly into the late evening hours.

Detectives, police officers and bloodhounds arrived at the scene. They stomped their feet trying to locate any craters to no avail. For weeks crew members thoroughly investigated the pasture but there were no signs of the lost farmer. A land survey showed that beneath the soil was solid limestone free of sinkholes and caves. There were not any wells, marshes, quicksand, trees or boulders present. Now the plot had thickened. How could a fully grown man simply dematerialize during broad daylight, never to be seen again?

The disappearance occurred on a farm a few miles outside of Gallatin, Tennessee.

Several months later George and Sarah Lang noticed a strange anomaly precisely where their father had disappeared. There was a perfectly formed circle about fifteen feet in diameter where all the interior grass had turned yellow and stopped growing. Even stranger was the fact that resident animals refused to walk through this specific spot. Creatures such as vermin and insects completely avoided the area. When George placed a noisy cricket inside of the circle it immediately fell silent and swiftly jumped out. Upon leaving, the arthropod began chirping loudly once again.

Puzzled, the daughter decided to call out to her beloved parent. Both she and her brother were astonished when they heard Mr. Lang respond by faintly yelling, as if calling out for help. Soon his voice began to fade away before dissolving into silence. Excitedly the pair ran off to fetch their mother. She too could recognize the distant voice of her husband. For four days the family listened intently to the far-off replies until they eventually became inaudible.

After the events that transpired, Mrs. Lang passed the farm to a family friend.

There was never any memorial or funeral service held, perhaps due to wishful thinking that he may someday resurface. Mrs. Lang was never the same after her husband’s departure. Given the haunting memories that surrounded the farm combined with her fragile mental state, she decided to move away. After she and her children left the property was turned over to Judge Peck to rent out. Out of respect for Mr. Lang, the field was left untouched and remained that way until his wife’s passing.

Fifty-one years later Sarah Lang was interviewed by mystery novelist Stuart Palmer. In 1953 the story gained public attention after it was published in Fate Magazine, a popular publication that featured obscure topics. According to Fate, their story “How Lost Was My Father?” was a direct derivation of the previous 1931 account. Harold T. Wilkins released Strange Mysteries of Timeand Space in 1958 and Frank Edwards wrote Stranger than Science one year later. Ultimately since few records have been located, investigators are left to study the work of these authors.

For over a century researchers have wondered where David Lang went.

Whatever happened to David Lang remains a baffling mystery. Some speculate that he stumbled into another dimension. Others believe the man was abducted by aliens in a forcefield-concealed UFO. Skeptics say that the entire story is a work of fiction and nothing more than a mere hoax. As the decades continues to pass it becomes increasingly difficult to discern what really transpired that day. Given the number of strange disappearances that continue to occur, this is might be a case that should not be so easily dismissed.

What do you think happened to David Lang? Share your thoughts in the comments section if you have a theory of your own!

One of the most intriguing cases of potential alien abduction is the strange tale of a young pilot by the name of Frederick Valentich. In the late 1970s he had an arial encounter with a UFO while performing a flight down the Australian coast. There are several compelling pieces of evidence that were left behind: radio transmissions, eyewitness accounts and a photograph of an unknown craft.

On October 21st, 1978 Frederick Valentich embarked on a 125 mile flight along the shores of Bass Strait. Valentich, a member of the Air Training Corps, had been flying for over two years and accumulated over 150 hours of solitary trips. He was employed by an airline company and aspired to become a commercial pilot. At 6:19 pm Valentich took off in his Cessna 182 from an airport just outside of Melbourne. The journey was routine and followed a route that the twenty-one year old pilot had travelled many times before. Unbeknownst to Valentich, this would be his final departure.

Just over halfway through the uneventful flight things began to take a bizarre turn. An unidentified flying object was hovering about 1,000 feet above his plane. The craft was described as being a long metallic object with four bright lights and flew at speeds that seemed unbelievable. Valentich told air traffic controllers that something was approaching him and seemed to be playing some sort of game. It would remain stationary then quickly orbit closer. His final words were: “It is not an aircraft.”

1906:14 DSJ Melbourne, this is Delta Sierra Juliet. Is there any known traffic below five thousand?

FS Delta Sierra Juliet, no known traffic.

DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet, I am, seems to be a large aircraft below five thousand.

1906:44 FS Delta Sierra Juliet, What type of aircraft is it?

DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet, I cannot affirm, it is four bright, it seems to me like landing lights.

1907 FS Delta Sierra Juliet.

1907:31 DSJ Melbourne, this is Delta Sierra Juliet, the aircraft has just passed over me at least a thousand feet above.

FS Delta Sierra Juliet, roger, and it is a large aircraft, confirmed?

DSJ Er-unknown, due to the speed it’s traveling, is there any air force aircraft in the vicinity?

FS Delta Sierra Juliet, no known aircraft in the vicinity.

1908:18 DSJ Melbourne, it’s approaching now from due east towards me.

FS Delta Sierra Juliet.

1908:41 DSJ (open microphone for two seconds.)

1908:48 DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet, it seems to me that he’s playing some sort of game, he’s flying over me two, three times at speeds I could not identify.

1909 FS Delta Sierra Juliet, roger, what is your actual level?

DSJ My level is four and a half thousand, four five zero zero.

FS Delta Sierra Juliet, and you confirm you cannot identify the aircraft?

DSJ Affirmative.

FS Delta Sierra Juliet, roger, stand by.

1909:27 DSJ Melbourne, Delta Sierra Juliet, it’s not an aircraft it is (open microphone for two seconds).

1909:42 FS Delta Sierra Juliet, can you describe the -er- aircraft?

DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet, as it’s flying past it’s a long shape (open microphone for three seconds) cannot identify more than it has such speed (open microphone for three seconds). It’s before me right now Melbourne.

1910 FS Delta Sierra Juliet, roger and how large would the – er – object be?

1910:19 DSJ Delta Sierra Juliet, Melbourne, it seems like it’s stationary. What I’m doing right now is orbiting and the thing is just orbiting on top of me also. It’s got a green light and sort of metallic like, it’s all shiny on the outside.

During the final seventeen seconds there is an eerie metallic scraping that can be heard. A NASA researcher as well as the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology have analyzed the transmission. Neither were able to identify the source of these sounds and to this day it remains a mystery.

After Valentich’s disappearance a massive search ensued. For four days a fleet of shipping vessels scoured the ocean. There were no signs of a crash or traces of any wreckage despite the Cessna’s design to float in the event it hit water. A witness who wished to remain anonymous approached investigators. He stated that on the evening of October 21st, while out with his family, they saw a bright green light flying above a small plane. Both of the crafts got closer to one another before they flew out of their view. Eleven other eyewitnesses came forward with observations that were all identical. Interestingly, in the month prior to Valentich’s incident, there had been a massive spike in UFO sightings in that area.

Roy Manifold, an amateur photographer, was at Cape Otway on the evening that Valentich vanished. He wanted to capture the sunset with his camera settings on an automatic exposure. During the shoot six photographs were taken in succession using the time-lapse setting. Once they were developed a puzzling anomaly was seen in the last picture: a strange object in the upper right corner. At first Manifold thought it might have been a developing error so it was sent in for analysis. There was neither dirt nor damage on the original negative. Other experts made a startling determination and concluded that the image showed a metallic object about a mile from the camera.

This year Valentich would have been celebrating his sixtieth birthday. Nearly four decades later there are still far more questions than answers. While many theories as to the pilot’s ultimate fate have been proposed they all remain mere speculation. Whatever happened during that final flight will remain one of Australia’s greatest aviation mysteries. What do you think happened to Frederick Valentich? Might it be possible that he may one day resurface? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Ash

Hello! I am drawn to all things strange and unusual. Down the Chupacabra Hole is a place for fellow enthusiasts of UFOs, cryptozoology, the paranormal & conspiracies. Join me on a venture to discover the truth.